Jasper let a wide smile appear on his face as he looked to his supporters in the crowd. There was a large mix of emotions on their faces, but they seemed mostly happy with his victory.
The higher ups seemed to have a range of reactions as well. One man with a large nose and a bald head argued with Isla loudly next to the rest of the higher ups. There wasn't a lot to impress in Pygmy fights, but it was a reasonably high level first year fight.
Some of them seemed interested in Jasper, but most seemed to already be talking about the next thing amongst eachother. And as Jasper watched them, he could see a few who enjoyed watching the bald man's fit.
He beckoned the referee over and spoke intensely with Isla. Jasper looked over to Arya who was walking down the stands to greet Jasper. She fist bumped Jasper, and began to steer him off the field.
Just then, Jasper remembered the first thing his opponent had said to him. 'It'll be an honor to defeat the Lords child.' Before they were out of ear shot Jasper turned to Arya. "She was top 10?" He asked. His tone was innocent.
Arya looked at him with a knowing glint. "Yeah, she's 10th right now." She said simply. He threw a questioning glance at the girl who was being helped off the field by medical personnel. Her eyes were full of tears as her leg throbbed in pain.
They locked eyes and stared at eachother for a moment. Her grandfather heard and immediately turned red with rage. His arguing became twice as loud as he stared daggers into Jaspers back.
A few minutes later, Jasper was sat on a bench with Luna holding her hands against his face. The water pressure wasn't enough to slice him apart. But it left serious marks. His eye hurt bad and his face felt like it was going to swell up.
His body was pretty battered, but bruises only made him stronger. The group stood around him in a semicircle and talked about his fight. "I didn't take you for a shit talker." Weston started the conversation.
Jasper smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm not normally, it's just how I used to spar with my brother. And she was being a bitch anyway." He said.
Arya looked a little concerned. "That was quite something. You definitely made a statement. I'm sure Isla is loving how you beat her." She seemed troubled.
"I didn't know you ended up taming that blood spirit. It looks really cool." Weston clapped Jasper on the shoulder with a smile. Jaspers head was clearing from the battle and he realized he may have been a little over the top.
It wasn't on purpose, but it was a side effect of being raised under his fathers rules. One of his core ideas had been ingrained in Jasper despite Jaspers resistance to his family. His father believed that battles should be won spectacularly to create a greater legacy.
One of his lines was, 'Humble men leave behind little.' Jasper had heard that mantra from his butlers thousands of times. When growing up, if Jasper failed to win impressively he was punished.
This made his fighting style a little flashy. "Was I too over the top? Do you think the higher ups were off put by it?" Jasper asked.
Arya shrugged. "It was definitely interesting. But with Isla's support, you can't be that disliked. I don't think many of them care that much either. Pygmy fights are Pygmy fights." She explained.
"Don't worry about it, there's always trash talk in non friendly battles. We were just surprised you pulled it out in your acceptance fight." Weston commented.
Jasper nodded. He realized he needed to be more socially careful. One wrong enemy and his life could be ruined, or snuffed out. In the end, his opponent was about as strong as him.
"It would've been a harder fight if you'd not provoked her." Brackton said. Jasper agreed. He'd won that fight with his brain. She had more real combat experience than he had and was beating him in basic exchanges. It was only with feints and manipulation that he won.
Isla appeared around a corner and began walking to the group. Her long legs stepped happily toward Jasper. Her hips swayed as she greeted him.
"Well done. I need to ask one question first. That earth projectile was a spell and not a spirit possession ability, right?" She asked.
Jasper nodded. "Yeah, I just got it the other day. Why, is there a problem?"
"No problem, just one of the spectators was concerned with the validity of the spar. I must go share the news with them. It was a good fight. You're admitted to the Rio Clan. I'll send someone to get you going." She said as she walked away. She paused and turned. "And Arya, we got a notice that I want you to clarify for me." She left before Arya could respond.
"What do you think that's about?" Luna asked.
Arya's eyes darkened slightly. "Probably that clan that tried to sneak me. I'll meet with her later." She said.
The tone darkened slightly as a young man walked up to Jasper. "Hi, my name is Liam. Isla sent me to get you registered with the clan. If you'd follow me we can get started." He said. His tone was quite nice.
Jasper stood and nodded. "Alrighty. I guess I'll see you guys around." He turned to the group.
"Good luck in the first year academy." Luna said.
"I better see you at the top." Weston grinned. Arya and Brackton smiled. Jasper followed behind the young man as his life with the Rio Clan started.
Jasper spent the next couple hours running around the clan compound with Liam. He realized it was so much larger than he ever thought. It was almost city like and was full of people doing work. He'd barely seen a quarter of it so far.
They had stopped in a large building that seemed to deal heavily in the paperwork of the clan. People ran around with large folders and loose papers. He filled out some paperwork and was given a badge.
It was a special first year badge that pinned easily to his chest. The symbol was an arrow of fire surrounded by bronze frills. He looked toward Liam's chest to find a silver insignia with an ornate short sword in the middle.
Next, he went to a goods store inside the compound. It wasn't a typical food store or hardware store, (not that Jasper had ever been to one) but instead was a highly specialized spirit tamer depot. There were racks and racks of anything a spirit tamer needed to survive.
Large industrial metal racks stored things like tents, rations, and every camping supply possibly needed. There were hunting knives and other survival gear that would come in handy. Liam told Jasper to get anything he needed within reason.
His cart of things ended up being pretty large as he reasoned he'd rather get things now than being made to pay for it later. He hoped this wasn't coming out of Liam's pocket.
Liam approached the register and used a card to pay for it. Their next stop was the first year area of the clan compound.
It was quite large and was many city blocks wide and had its own facilities. Large dorm buildings as well as a cafeteria were the first things he saw. The dorm buildings were tall and stored the huge population of first years.
Jasper found out that there were about 30,000 first years in the compound. The first year numbers for every clan tend to be overinflated. Since many spirit tamers retire from spirit taming after only a couple years, it makes the first year class look comparatively large to the rest of the clan population.
A lot of first years will die as well. Jasper was walked into the dorm building by Liam. He could feel his registration period coming to an end. The badge on his chest opened the door to the building he was assigned to.
He lived on floor 7 which was the highest floor in his building. It was a pretty standard brick apartment style building from the outside. The inside was simple and didn't do too much. First years walked around everywhere and threw glances at the first year walking with a second year.
As Jasper walked down the hallway, Liam talked to him. "You'll be sharing your room with 7 other tamers. If there's a problem with your roommates, you can try to apply for a new room. There was a necrotic affinity guy who kept hopping from room to room in my year last year. He dropped out because the people who ran the paperwork got tired of him switching rooms and stopped running the paperwork. He was an ass though." He said.
Jasper raised an eyebrow. "…"
Liam shrugged. "Just giving you some advice. Don't switch rooms too much." He said.
"I appreciate it." Jasper said.
As he reached the door Liam bid him farewell. "Goodluck. There should be a schedule and orientation packet on your bed." He said before disappearing down the hall. Jasper stood before his dorm room and took a deep breath.